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Text Chapter 169 ¡®Pirate¡¯ Lukes

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    The six major tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora super tribes.

    The form of the alliance is that the clan and village leaders of the tribes participate in public meetings. Each tribe has 1 vote, and the principle of unanimous decision-making by all tribes is implemented.

    All chiefs jointly hear civil disputes between tribes.

    Zhao Hongyu thought that the internal system of the Iroquois League was somewhat similar to the Congress of later generations.

    "However, Zhao Hongyu also saw the weakness of the Iroquois Alliance, that is, all tribes have one vote, which will cause many things to get into trouble.

    It is actually fine if large tribes have the right to vote, but small tribes also have the right to vote, which is a bit puzzling.

    But this has nothing to do with Zhao Hongyu, and he will not let the Iroquois worry about it.

    It would be great if Yi Luokui had weaknesses, but without them it would give Zhao Hongyu a headache.

    In Zhao Hongyu¡¯s view, both the French and the Iroquois are temporarily obstacles to Zhao Hongyu¡¯s occupation of the Great Lakes region.

    "And if the Iroquois can stop the French from advancing westward, then they can stop Zhao Hongyu from settling in the Great Lakes region.

    ¡°Obviously, the Iroquois, who already had a society like villages and towns, must have attached great importance to land.  They would never let Zhao Hongyu get the Great Lakes area so easily, or else they would have to fight.

    Zhao Hongyu would not want to start a war if it was not necessary.

    "However, sometimes when things really come to that point, Zhao Hongyu doesn't know what he should do.

    "Peaceful rise is nonsense. Even the rise of capital is full of blood and filth. How can the rise of an empire avoid these things?"

    It can only become more bloody and dirty.

    I hope we don¡¯t have to go to war with the Iroquois. It would be best if we can evolve peacefully.

    While listening to Emma¡¯s story, Zhao Hongyu secretly pondered in his heart¡ª¡ª

    Dividing line¡ª¡ª

    One hundred nautical miles east of the Manhattan Port waters, a double-decker Dutch commercial and warship flying a black skull and crossbones flag appeared from the horizon.

    Because Manhattan has attracted countless merchant ships, and the huge profits have attracted many businessmen.  In order to make huge profits, everyone went to Manhattan to conduct transactions.

    The bustling merchant ships, as well as the commodities with huge profits, as well as the merchant ships carrying large amounts of gold and silver coins, also attracted the attention of some other people.

    Pirates!

    Since the beginning of the Age of Discovery, the profession of pirates has flourished.

    In fact, the profession of pirates has existed since ancient times.

    As early as the age of the Vikings, Vikings have been engaged in this profession and made a living from it for generations. They often raided the British Isles or the coasts of European countries, plundering people and property.

    However, the true prosperity of the pirate industry began with the beginning of the Age of Navigation in the 16th century.

    Because of the development of shipbuilding technology and the prosperity of maritime commerce, this has given pirates a very favorable breeding ground for development.

    At that time, in order to defeat the Spanish, the British issued plunder orders in the name of the country, which added lubricant to the piracy career.

    At this point, there were more and more pirates traveling across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean.  They are the gods of death on the sea and greedy sharks.

    After all, being a pirate is a cost-free business, and the benefits gained are huge.

    Therefore, countless Europeans are willing to become pirates.

    Even some serious businessmen will temporarily become pirates when they encounter weaker merchants.  This kind of thing was very normal in the seventeenth century.

    "Captain Lukes, there are a lot of ships coming and going here in Manhattan. We have heard a lot of this kind of information when we were in Europe. But are you sure we can definitely catch big fish here?"

    Wearing a black eye patch and a greasy beard, the captain in black clothes grinned and showed four big gold teeth. He said: "Don't worry, as long as we work harder, we will definitely make a fortune on this trip."  Yes. A set of those porcelain can be sold for 800 gold coins in Egypt, and can even be exchanged for 1,200 female slaves. This is much more cost-effective than us robbing corn and grain."

    When the captain named Lukes mentioned porcelain, the eyes of the crooked-looking pirates standing around him flashed.

    Porcelain, of course they know what it is.

    Three or four monthsAt this time, the term porcelain has become very popular in the Mediterranean.  When those businessmen meet an acquaintance when they go out, if they don't talk a few words about porcelain, then this person will definitely be despised.

    Therefore, these pirates will hear something about porcelain from time to time.

    People like Lukes will only raise the skull and crossbones flag when they are at sea, but when they enter port in the Mediterranean to rest and replenish supplies, they will fly the Dutch flag.

    Therefore, no one will know that Lux¡¯s identity as a serious businessman hides his identity as a pirate.

    However, many people do this, don¡¯t they?  Lux wasn't the only one, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with this.

    Regarding porcelain, Lukes and the others have heard a lot, so they will naturally take an interest in it.

    An experience in Alexandria, Egypt, made Lukes even more enthusiastic about porcelain.

    He saw with his own eyes that a sailor from England exchanged a set of exquisite porcelain purchased from Manhattan in the New World for 800 yellow-orange gold coins from a Persian businessman.

    There are also many chiefs who hope to exchange female slaves for porcelain. Unfortunately, all the merchants who own porcelain are not interested in slaves. They only want gold.

    It was precisely in this way that Lukes realized how precious porcelain was and how much wealth it could bring.

    However, he didn¡¯t have enough money on hand to even buy a set of porcelain.

    He has never been to Manhattan, so he has no idea about the triangular trade route that has just emerged and not many people know about it.

    Therefore, Lukes plans to return to his old profession, pirate!

    Lukes is not greedy. As long as he grabs a ship with porcelain, he will have enough capital to take it to the Mediterranean and sell it.

    With capital in hand, pirates can temporarily do less business.

    After all, who doesn¡¯t want to live a stable life.

    After a fifty-day voyage, Lukes and the others plundered a Swedish ship on the way. However, there were no valuable commodities on the ship, so Lukes finally only robbed some of their gold and silver coins and all of them.  Fresh water and food left the poor Swedish businessman alone.

    "Put away the Jolly Roger and replace it with the Dutch flag. We need to replenish supplies in Manhattan Harbor and then wait and choose a fat sheep."

    Yes, Lukes and the others don¡¯t have to wait stupidly at sea. They can settle in the Manhattan port, observe who buys the porcelain, and then follow them to go out to sea and rob at sea.

    Anyway, no one here in Manhattan Port knows that they are pirates. After all, Lukes also has another identity as a businessman.

    A group of sailors cheered and started running on the deck.

    The black pirate flag was lowered and a Dutch flag was hoisted up the mast.

    "We need to find a target and also observe the situation in Manhattan. If Manhattan's defense is not very strong, it would be much better for us to just rob Manhattan directly than rob other businessmen."

    Lukes raised his hand and stroked his greasy beard, his remaining eye shining with cruelty and excitement.

    Attacking ports and robbing ports of finances is not something pirates have done before.

    Some small colonial settlements in Central and South America, or fortresses with insufficient defense, have basically encountered this kind of thing.

    It can be seen how courageous the pirates of this era are and how crazy the things they do are.

    And Lux ??has actually come up with such an idea now.

    "But I can't blame him. After all, he has never been to Manhattan. He only heard about Manhattan from many European businessmen.

    In the words of those businessmen, Manhattan is a city and power established by indigenous people. They have exquisite products such as ceramics here, and there are many other products.

    It can be said that this is a place of wealth, but its owners are indigenous people who are looked down upon by Europeans.

    It was precisely with such a preconceived notion that Lukes had such an idea.

    In his opinion, if the ruler of Manhattan is really aboriginal, then he can issue a call for pirates and find some allies to attack Manhattan and plunder the wealth here.

    You know, many European businessmen come to Manhattan to buy porcelain, and most of what they pay is real money.  In other words, there is a lot of gold and silver stored in Manhattan.

    The amount of gold and silver must be quite a lot.

      Because of the price of porcelain, Lukes made such a conclusion.

    The ship slowly sailed into the estuary of Manhattan and headed towards the port.

    Lukes¡¯ adjutant stood on the deck with a monocular telescope and looked at the situation on both sides of the strait.

    "Captain, the defense of Manhattan Island is very tight. I saw eight artillery fortresses, and there are more in the distance." The adjutant put down the telescope in his hand and said to Lukes with a somewhat sad expression.

    Lukes took the telescope, looked at it, and then put it down.

    "It seems that the natives of Manhattan are not easy. If we attack Manhattan, they will be able to hit us with artillery from the shore and sink the ship before we get close to the port."

    Lukes saw that the coastal fortress artillery was aimed at attacks from the sea.

    He also saw that these fortresses and artillery had completely blocked the entrance to the sea.

    In other words, the incoming sea ships are within the fire coverage of those fortresses and artillery, and you cannot avoid them at all.

    "Captain, I heard that this is an island. Can we land on the island?"

    The adjutant pointed to Manhattan Island on the left and said to Lukes.  (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to become a registered member of Piaotian Literature to recommend this work. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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